Farmland tops $3,000 an acre in southeast SD

AG NEWS BRIEFS

April 04, 2008

SIOUX FALLS (AP) - The value of cropland has topped $3,000 an acre in five counties in southeast South Dakota. Topping the list is Minnehaha County, where nonirrigated farmland is valued at an average of $3,862 an acre. The report from the Agricultural Statistics Service is based on producer surveys taken this year. Other top five counties are Lincoln at $3,593 an acre, Moody at $3,221, Union at $3,138, and Lake at $3,074. The highest rental rates for cropland were $133 an acre in Moody County, $130 in Lincoln, and $125 in Union. George Jones to Perform at South Dakota State Fair Grammy award winner, George Jones, will perform at the South Dakota State Fair on Friday, August 29th. Jones first hit the charts in 1955 with “Why, Baby, Why.” In 2003, he released his first gospel collection. He celebrated his 50th anniversary as a recording artist in 2004 by releasing a 3-CD set entitled “George Jones 50 Years of Hits” featuring one hit for each year of his career. He has won two Grammys- separated by 18 years. The first, in 1981, for “He Stopped Loving Her Today” and the second, in 1999, for “Choices.” He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1992 and was awarded the prestigious National Medal of Arts Honor by President George W. Bush in 2002. Jones has been the focus of numerous television specials and, in 1996, he told his life story in “I Lived To Tell It All” which rose to #6 on the New York Times Best Seller List. Jones will turn 77 years old in September of 2008. He still headlines nearly 100 concerts a year as his talent continues to amaze fans and new listeners alike. George Jones joins Montgomery Gentry and 38 Special in the line-up slated for the SD State Fair Grandstand. The South Dakota State Fair will take place August 28 Ð September 1, 2008, in Huron. Tickets for George Jones and all grandstand events are scheduled to go on sale in early July. Check the State Fair website at sdstatefair.com. Farmers fear N.J. ready to take garden out of Garden State TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - Is New Jersey taking the garden out of the Garden State? Farmers think so, and they're not happy. Gov. Jon S. Corzine has proposed making New Jersey the third state without a state Department of Agriculture as he looks to slash state spending amid chronic state money problems. But some contend the move will chase away farmers who persevered for generations as the Garden State grew into the nation's most densely populated state. New Jersey would join Alaska and Rhode Island as the only states without an agriculture department, said Charles W. Ingram, spokesman for the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture. In those states, he said, agricultural services are handled by environmental departments, and that's what Corzine is partly proposing. South St. Paul's last working stockyard due to close soon SOUTH ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - It will be the end of an era in South St. Paul when the city's last working stockyard shuts down for good in about two weeks. Central Livestock will hold its last cattle auction on April 11. After that, bulldozers will flatten all 27 acres in order to develop an office park. South St. Paul was once one of the busiest livestock markets in the world. Stockyards reached as far as the eye could see, and the city became synonymous with meatpacking. The high school team's nickname is still the Packers. Stockyards started closing in the 1970s, and the city's healthy economy went with them. South St. Paul's population dropped by about 20,000 people in the last few decades. City officials say they're having success in diversifying the local economy and creating new jobs. American Crystal board approves cut in beet acres FARGO, N.D. (AP) - American Crystal Sugar growers could cut their sugar beet acreage 15 percent or more this year. American Crystal President David Berg said the cooperative's board of directors this week approved a cut ranging from 15 percent to 19 percent. He said the board considered such factors as excess production during the past two years and the profit potential for other crops such as wheat. That means growers for the Moorhead, Minn.-based cooperative will plant in the range of 405,000 acres to 424,000 acres of beets, compared with about 498,570 acres last year. Sugar beet planting starts in about two weeks. In Wahpeton, Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative Vice President Tom Knudsen said the co-op plans to raise 109,000 acres of beets, about the same as last year. Turkey causing troubles in White Bear Lake WHITE BEAR LAKE, Minn. (AP) - The residents of White Bear Lake's Park Avenue Apartments are having turkey troubles. A group of wild turkeys have moved into the complex a while ago, but one male has gone bad now that it's mating season. The apartment manager says the bird has attacked residents, chased children and damaged cars. State wildlife supervisor Bryan Lueth concedes a hyper-dominate male can be ornery during mating season, but there are limited options for dealing with it. Moving the bird could introduce diseases into the wild population. Killing it is tricky because using a gun or bow in the city is illegal. Apartment manager Kelly Wright has received a permit to net the bird and kill it humanely, but she's a little afraid of it. She wants the DNR to step in. Lueth says the DNR is understaffed. White Bear police have weapons, but say they don't have the expertise with animals. About 120 tons of recalled beef heads to landfill FARGO, N.D. (AP) - About 120 tons of recalled beef that was supposed to go to area school lunch programs will end up in the Fargo landfill. The state Health Department asked for permission to dispose of it there. Fargo's solid waste utility manager, Terry Ludlum, says the frozen beef is in 40-pound boxes that will be delivered in six semis next month. Ludlum says the beef will break down over time so it will not increase the landfill volume. He says the boxes will be recycled. Northern Minn. moose calf that looked tame may be sick DULUTH, Minn. (AP) - Veterinarians at the University of Minnesota are testing a moose calf that has been acting almost tame in northeastern Minnesota for brainworm. The calf has been seen feeding close to a road in the small town of Fredenberg Township north of Duluth. It has allowed several residents close enough to touch it. That's unusual behavior for a wild moose, and made wildlife officials suspect the animal was infected with the brainworm parasite. A conservation officer shot the animal on Monday and its body was sent to the university. Wildlife biologist Mike Schrage says the 10-month-old female calf weighed 284 pounds, but should have weighed much more than that. Brainworm is harmlessly carried by deer, but can be passed to moose through feces, which the larger animals inadverently ingest when grazing. Dave Peterson of Fredenberg Township recently took several photos of the moose as it fed on pines. He says he was able to pet it and scratch its ears. Fate of Grand Forks lab should be known by June GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) - Members of North Dakota's congressional delegation say the fate of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Human Nutrition Research Center in Grand Forks should be known by June. Senator Byron Dorgan says that by then, legislation to restore funding for the center should make its way out of appropriation committees in both the House and Senate. President Bush's proposed 2009 federal budget calls for the center to be closed and for many of its functions to be transferred to USDA offices in Maryland and California. Dorgan, Senator Kent Conrad and Congressman Earl Pomeroy are trying to keep the North Dakota center open. It has 94 employees, including 55 federal workers and 39 state employees contracted through the University of North Dakota.